Vampires, sci-fi creatures, and Charli XCX are descending on Berlin this year.
The Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday unveiled more titles for its Berlinale lineup, including its high-profile, out-of-competition section of red carpet premieres that will screen at the 76th Berlinale, which runs Feb. 12-22.
Among additions in the Berlinale Specials program are the international premiere of Noah Segan’s The Only Living Pickpocket in New York with John Turturro and Steve Buscemi, such European premieres as Padraic McKinley’s The Weight, starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and Gore Verbinski’s sci-fi comedy Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die with Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple and Zazie Beetz.
In new Panorama section titles, feminist perspectives are showcased by Sámi choreographer Elle Sofe Sara in her film debut Árru, by Iranian activist and filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi in her drama Roya; and by Olive Nwosu in her debut Lady. And music superstar Charli XCX stars in Aidan Zamiri’s The Moment, which is described as “a mockumentary, a feminist act of self-empowerment and an ironic meta-commentary on the music business.” Meanwhile, in his latest Berlinale entry Geunyeoga doraon nal, Hong Sangsoo offers “a subtle reflection on the acting profession itself.”
Among the other new highlights is The Blood Countess, the hotly-anticipated horror mystery thriller starring Isabelle Huppert as a 16th-century vampire and featuring an all-star European cast, including Birgit Minichmayr (Everyone Else), Lars Eidinger (Jay Kelly), Thomas Schubert (Afire) and André Jung (The Forger).
The film, directed by renowned German New Wave artist and filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, is the latest retelling of the story of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a real-life aristocrat accused of bathing in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. Julie Delpy played a version of Báthory in 2009 feature The Countess; Anna Friel in the 2008 historical drama Bathory, and Maria Kalinina in the 2006 slasher horror Stay Alive, in which the spirit of the blood countess haunts a survival video game.
This iteration of the story promises to be more high-brow, with a script from Ottinger and Elfriede Jelinek, the acclaimed Nobel Prize-winning author of The Piano Teacher (which also starred Huppert). The Blood Countess was a hot pre-sales title at Berlin last year. Magnify is handling international sales.
The Berlinale will announce its full lineup on Jan. 20.
